Retirement Planning

Gov. Bruce Rauner is sticking to his plan to reduce retirement benefits for government workers, even after a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling severely limited options for cutting state pension costs, administration officials said Wednesday.

That position was relayed as the Republican governor dispatched a lawyer and policy adviser to a House committee to discuss the approach on pensions months after Rauner floated it. While no legislation has been filed, the new governor has talked broadly about moving all current workers to a less generous benefit package beginning in July. Upon retirement, those workers would collect two pensions — one from the more generous plan in...

Related "Retirement Planning" Articles

Gov. Bruce Rauner is sticking to his plan to reduce retirement benefits for government workers, even after a recent Illinois Supreme Court ruling severely limited options for cutting state pension costs, administration officials said Wednesday.
That...

Illinois lawmakers expressed skepticism Wednesday that they'll be able to pass a new pension reform bill this spring, despite pressure from Gov. Bruce Rauner and major credit rating agencies to quickly replace the 2013 overhaul that the state Supreme...

A lawsuit by unions and retirees challenging Mayor Rahm Emanuel's changes to city pension funds ultimately will be decided by the Illinois Supreme Court when all is said and done, a Cook County judge said Wednesday.
To that end, Associate Judge Rita...

It's not possible. It's not legal. It's not practical. It's not fair. And it's not economical.
Other than that, the suggestion offered to Gov. Bruce Rauner on these pages Tuesday is a good one.
"Lay off the entire state workforce, and close the...

A 56-year-old reader in Florida recently shared a few details about his journey to retirement.
After a dozen years in a county government job, he was put on disability at the end of 2013 because of his multiple sclerosis, which he said he was diagnosed...

Parents who rely on subsidized day care so they can earn a modest paycheck to feed their families. Disabled citizens who need transportation to work or help with daily tasks, from bathing to shopping to housekeeping. Seniors who would be in nursing...

“Obliging the government to control itself is what we are called upon to do today.”
— Illinois Supreme Court, May 8, 2015.
With their public finances ravaged, their taxpayer debts enormous and any prospects for cost control bleak, Illinois voters...

Now we're going to see what kind of businessman Bruce Rauner really is.
The Illinois Supreme Court has crumpled up and tossed the 2013 law meant to erase $105 billion — with a "B" — in public pension debt, leaving our financially strained state...

"Obliging the government to control itself is what we are called upon to do today."
— Illinois Supreme Court, May 8, 2015.
With their public finances ravaged, their taxpayer debts enormous and any prospects for cost control bleak,...

Gov. Bruce Rauner has decided that allowing Illinois municipalities to declare bankruptcy is an important tool to minimize union influence and membership rates in the state.
Chicago, which he says "is in deep, deep yogurt" with pension...

Can a robot handle your retirement?Fledgling online investment advisory services, nicknamed robo-advisers in financial circles, are moving squarely into retirement planning.Betterment, one of the largest such firms with about 80,000 users, is unveiling...

If you have a small business and are still stinging from the income taxes you paid Uncle Sam, you can take a simple step now that will get you through tax time in better shape next year.
And this simple step will take care of one of the big mistakes...

Since pleading guilty in a scholarship scam, ex-Rep. Connie Howard has pulled down $107,000 in state pension money while waiting nearly two years for the sentence that could finally shut down her payments.
But the South Side Democrat could be the last...

The Skokie Village Board is expected to vote on a proposed 2015-16 budget that includes a new food and beverage tax in June after wrapping up its third and final budget hearing this week.The proposed budget calls for expenses of nearly $55 million in...

Here is what we know: The retirement savings crisis is enormous. By some estimates, Americans are under-saved by up to $14 trillion. This number may in fact be understated, because it assumes Social Security and Medicare solvency — a big if. And the...

No parent wants to be the bad guy.
But as they try to figure out whether they should let their children say yes to college acceptances that have just arrived, parents may wonder if they dare give the go-ahead. For many families, the choice between an...

College tuition waivers should end
In a recent letter to the editor, Linda Brookhart, the executive director of the State Universities Annuitants Association, a lobbyist group that advocates for the preservation and protection of the pensions, health...

Q. My wife and I each have Roth IRA accounts, but neither of us can contribute to our plans any longer because we exceed the income threshold. I would like to use my IRA to buy land in Michigan. Eventually, we would like to build a house on the land,...

North Shore District 112's new teachers' contract could make it easier to rein in teacher pay in the future, but its near-term toll on district finances provoked strong words April 16 from a member of the school board's negotiating team.
Vice President...

Trying to make heads or tails of health care, with its seemingly endless changes and complexity, is enough to make just about anyone queasy.
Against that backdrop, a retirement planning expert who speaks with clarity and authority is the perfect...